Software Development Ramblings

Monthly Archives: January 2015

I’ve long been a sideline strategist watching the tech titans battle for supremacy, reading articles, taking classes and spending my commutes thinking about the way the tech-tonic plates (puns!) of the market are shifting under our feet. Which doesn’t make me an expert, but it does lead to some wild ideas that an insider may not consider.

Which is a long winded way of saying, I have another idea for Microsoft. You may ask, why are all your ideas about Microsoft? Short answer: their core business is slowly eroding so they need to adapt. On with the crazy idea, it’s time for Microsoft to change the game when it comes to customers mobile expectations. Right now customers are used to technologically crippled devices, at least compared to their laptops. And the consumers adapting to these limitations directly erodes the value of the Windows OS value proposition, if you have to rely more on outside services and less on your device then your device matters less.

One way to change expectations is in regards to storage. This is a three pronged attack against the current duopoly. First, by pushing devices to market with large storage capacities at lower prices ( 256 gb for example) you grab headlines, look technologically advanced and hopefully shift customer expectations. This impacts your bottom line, but will erode your competitors margins significantly, and since they own a larger share of the market they lose more than you do.

Second, it changes the way a developer approaches building apps. If it’s now possible to cache the 100 most popular pictures/movies on their device, then they can offer a better user experience via faster loads/transitions for big media files. You’re letting your partners be creative and offer better product than other platforms. This helps get your developer mind share back.

Third, and this ties into the last point about developers being able to create new and differentiated experiences on Windows. You make the device a stronger platform which ties into Windows strength of providing a rich on device experience without the need for connectivity.

Fourth, for developing countries where mobile internet is still expensive, this enables your platform to serve them better by letting them utilize WiFi to load up on content instead of spending big money on connectivity.

Technology has advanced rapidly in the storage and battery arenas. You can now buy 128GB SD card for less than $100, but Apple still charges $100 extra for half that. It’s time to chop their margins and change the game.